1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to methods and systems for the screening and detection of disease and more particularly to methods and systems for the screening and detection of persons at risk for developing type I diabetes mellitus.
2. Background of the Invention
Diabetes mellitus is a life changing disease that affects millions of persons. While the disease may be clinically diagnosed and confirmed fairly easily in some cases, earlier detection may lead to the possibility of intervention(s) that would alter or lessen the onset of clinical symptoms or allow other forms of preventative care to be undertaken. Currently, one of the best approaches for predicting who may be at risk for developing diabetes before the onset of clinical symptoms is the measurement of autoantibodies to islet cell antigens. However, for the major autoantibodies predictive of type 1 diabetes, the sensitivities for these antibodies varies considerably. While progress has been made to improve the accuracy and reproducibility of the measurement of islet cell autoantibodies, surrogate biomarkers predictive of those at high risk for developing type 1 diabetes would benefit the clinical community, particularly if such surrogate biomarkers result in higher sensitivity and specificity.
Accordingly what is needed is a method and system of screening for persons with increased risk of developing diabetes mellitus that utilizes candidate biomarkers allowing for broad based, reliable screening of large population bases. In addition, effective strategies for characterizing, archiving, and contrasting data from multiple sample types under varying conditions (e.g. control versus disease) are also needed.
Additional advantages and novel features of the present invention will be set forth as follows and will be readily apparent from the descriptions and demonstrations set forth herein. Accordingly, the following descriptions of the present invention should be seen as illustrative of the invention and not as limiting in any way.